


Transcripts from the Matoba clan’s inaugural employee feedback exercise

by jan



Category: Natsume Yuujinchou | Natsume's Book of Friends
Genre: Implied Relationships, Yuletide Treat
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-22
Updated: 2018-12-22
Packaged: 2019-09-24 20:09:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,274
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17107319
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jan/pseuds/jan
Summary: As above.





	Transcripts from the Matoba clan’s inaugural employee feedback exercise

**Author's Note:**

  * For [lady_peony](https://archiveofourown.org/users/lady_peony/gifts).



> happy yuletide!!
> 
> i have to confess that i have never watched _The Office_ :x

**In your view, what are the greatest benefits of being in this organisation?**

Well, the most obvious one is... Sorry, could you wait a moment? _Nanase-san, they're external consultants, right? How much can we say about..?_ ...Okay, well, I'd say that being part of the Matoba clan gives one a... a real sense of reassurance. It's good to be part of an organisation with such a long history. You honestly feel like part of the family, and you know that you'll be taken care of.

Oh, and the healthcare benefits are surprisingly generous. Though... I've heard from older colleagues that there used to be a good reason for that.

* * *

**What is one thing you wish the management would improve upon?**

Employee A: His habit of sneaking off for snacks.

Employee B: ...Akita, I don’t think they mean Matoba-sama himself--

A: I’ve been with the clan for over two decades and he hasn’t changed a bit in that regard.

B: ...

A: Well, I suppose he doesn’t hide under tables anymore. That’s a start.

* * *

**What do you wish you had been told before you joined the organisation?**

Um. It would have been nice to be warned about the fax machines?

**But fax machines are still common in most corporations...**

Oh! Sorry, no, I knew I’d have to learn how to use one. But the first time one of those faxed curses comes in, um, it’s a bit surprising. Hahaha. Um, especially that particular kind where the paper bursts into flame. Or the ones where the curse attaches to the closest person? It can be a bit scary if you’re not prepared for it.

**...sorry, you mean--**

Um! I just think it would be good to have some basic safety training, even for those of us who don’t usually deal with that side of things. That’s all.

* * *

B: To be fair, I don’t think Matoba-sama has done that very often, lately.

A: Just last week he asked Ishikawa to pick up some macarons during the usual calligraphy supplies run.

B: See? Delegation. That’s a good sign.

* * *

**What would you tell someone who was interested in joining your organisation?**

To brush up on their calligraphy. Did you know that most young people today haven’t held a brush since elementary school? Have you? ...No, I didn’t think so. Well, even though most of our record-keeping is done on computers now, you might still need to write letters the traditional way, depending on which clients you’re handling. And of course, if you’re in one of the frontline departments, you’d better be sure you can reproduce a talisman correctly. We still tell cautionary tales about that boy… what was his name? Nakamura? A poorly-written talisman is an ineffective talisman. Enough said.

* * *

B: And anyway... I think those macarons were for a special occasion.

A: What?

B: [inaudible]

A: ...oh. Well. Not sure how much I approve of _that_ bad habit of his.

B: Please don't let Nanase-san hear you calling him a bad habit.

* * *

**What do you wish someone would tell the management?**

I mean, I really admire Matoba-sama, and like, I heard he’s already done a lot of modernising, like can you believe they didn’t have a coffee machine here until five years ago? They just drank tea all the time. I know, right? So yeah, it’s not that he’s old-fashioned. But then sometimes during meetings, one of those little flying shiki will come in looking for him -- like, I almost got a papercut once because I was sitting near the window. And then he sends it back with another message and I’m just like… someone should tell them that they can just use Line, you know? Or even, I don’t know, mobile mail? My mum uses mobile mail. So yeah.

* * *

A: In any case, the worse distraction still seems to be snacks. There was that time he came back with all those bags of manjuu from… where was it?

B: Nanatsujiya.

A: Yes, Nanatsujiya. He must have cleared out their entire stock for that afternoon.

B: I do like their manjuu.

A: But you have to wonder why he did it. Don’t you? I heard that Nanase asked him, but I don’t know what he replied…

B: Something about a disagreeable customer and Nanatsujiya’s manjuu being wasted on them.

A: It just doesn’t seem his style. Who would be able to make him so… petty?

B: [shrugs]

A: He used the company card to pay for it, too. Accounting was not pleased.

* * *

**What do you think of your organisation's recent merger and acquisition activity?**

I think we need to hire more lawyers. Do you know how hard it is dealing with title deeds from the Meiji era? Do you think I have time to look at modern contracts when I've been trying to disentangle the implications of property and inheritance laws from more than a hundred years ago? Let alone getting up to speed with modern building safety codes? Just because it's hard to find law students who also know something about this line of work...

**You set up a corporate development arm recently, didn’t you?**

If by that you mean "hired a fresh grad who took a business module once", sure. I have nothing against Takahashi, she's a good kid, but you can't expect her to both look into new acquisitions _and_ deal with the legalities. And I don't want to be... You know, I'm not saying it's because of her, but I have to question some of these recent stakes we've been taking in entertainment industry firms.

**One of your colleagues mentioned that the Natori clan is a possible acquisition target..?**

Heh -- "merger or acquisition" of one Natori Shuuichi. Right. Okay, I suppose Takahashi's not to blame. Someone should tell the boss to stop mixing business and pleasure.

**Um...**

Especially in the main building.

**...**

During office hours. In his office.

**Er, so--**

You know that these old buildings are not particularly good with, ah, soundproofing? And the rest of us are just trying to do our jobs, which is hard enough when we don’t even have those nice spinny ergonomic chairs, let alone when you can hear--

“Ah, Kubota-kun. Having a nice chat?”

Nanase-san! Hello! Hello. We’re just… yes, the interview’s going fine, thanks very much.

“Don’t let me interrupt -- I just wanted to drop off this contract. Take a quick look? The boss is quite eager to sign it.”

Thanks, Nanase-san.

….Right. Well. I should probably get back to my work-- Oh no. Great. Look at this. This is precisely what I'm talking about. You know, knowing the boss, I'm sure he's gotten someone to do the sums -- probably Takahashi -- and it checks out on paper as a perfectly sensible business decision, but really.

**Sorry?**

Look, just read it.

**'Acquisition of interest in'... wait, is this... I didn't even know that Natori had gone independent with his own work studio.**

As you shouldn't. This is all confidential pending the signing of the contract, but there you go. You see what I have to deal with?

* * *

A: But that's quite enough from me. What about you, Hashida?

B: Well. I think it would be good if Matoba-sama could finally become more honest about his intentions and get to the point regarding Natori-kun, so us old fogeys who have had to put up with their childish shenanigans for the past half-a-dozen years -- not least recently with Matoba-sama's increasingly transparent reasons for hosting exorcist gatherings and those dratted paper shiki interrupting our meetings -- can finally stop pretending that it isn't terribly obvious what Matoba-sama's desired endgame would be.

A: ...

B: And better heating during winter. That would be nice.


End file.
